Peanut Cookies
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These Peanut Cookies are a Chinese New Year favorite, known for their rich peanut flavor and melt-in-the-mouth texture. They are super easy to make and require no butter. You can easily adapt the recipe to make it dairy-free and vegan.
The Chinese New Year will be here soon. Weeks before the Chinese New Year, my family usually starts to stock up on some cookies. Here is another one of my favorite Chinese New Year cookies: Peanut Cookies.
These Peanut Cookies are made with ground peanuts. They are full of peanut goodness flavor, mildly sweet with a slight hint of salt. They are a little bit crumbly with a melt-in-your-mouth texture. These cookies come together very quickly, and they are one of those cookies that disappear fast once the jar is opened.
Ingredients You Need
- Peanuts. You need to toast the peanuts first before using them in the dough. Toasting peanuts will bring out their natural oils, so it intensifies the nutty flavor and makes them taste richer and more savory.
- All-purpose flour. This is the structure of the cookies.
- Confectioners’ sugar. Also known as icing sugar or powdered sugar. It sweetens and gives the cookies a tender texture.
- Milk powder. Add richness. For the dairy-free option, just omit the milk powder.
- Salt. For taste.
- Vanilla extract. To enhance the flavor.
- Vegetable oil. Make sure to use neutral-flavored vegetable oil. Do not use olive oil! You can use peanut oil to enhance the nut flavor
- Egg yolk. Brush the top of the cookie with egg yolk for a golden, glossy finish. For the egg-free option, just omit the egg yolk.
How to Make Dairy-Free Peanut Cookies
The only dairy ingredient in this recipe is the milk powder. Therefore, just omit it or change the milk powder to plant-based milk powder for the dairy-free version.
How to Make Vegan Peanut Cookies
To make this recipe vegan, omit the egg wash and the milk powder.
Baking Tips
- Use skinless peanuts. The skin adds roughness, fiber, and a slightly bitter taste. Removing the skin prevents a potentially bitter flavor and ensures a more uniform dough texture.
- Measure your flour correctly. Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. To best and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you still insist on using volume measurement, make sure to fluff your flour and spoon it into your measuring cup. Then, use a knife to level it off.
- Don’t overblend the peanuts. Pulse roasted peanuts in a food processor or coffee grinder, taking care not to over-process them into a paste or butter.
- Dry dough. If the dough is too dry, you may add 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil just until the dough comes together.
More Chinese New Year Cookies Recipes
- Cashew Cookies
- Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes (Feng Li Su)
- Black Sesame Cookies
- Florentine Cookies
- Crunchy Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (130 gr) roasted peanuts, skinless
- 2 cups (250 gr) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (130 gr) confectioners' sugar
- 1 tbsp milk powder, optional
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup (135 gr) vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Egg wash
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300℉/150℃ and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Blend roasted peanuts with a food processor until finely ground. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift in all-purpose flour, confectioners' sugar, milk powder, and salt. Add ground peanuts. Mix until combined.
- Add vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Mix until incorporated. If the dough is too dry, you may add small amount of vegetable oil just until the dough comes together.
- Roll the dough into a 1/4-inch (5 mm) thick slab between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut the dough with a cookie cutter. Place the cut dough on baking sheets, spaced at least an inch apart. Re-roll the scraps and repeat the process until all the dough is used.
- In a small bowl, mix egg yolks with vegetable oil to make egg wash.
- Brush the top of the cookies with egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes or until the top of the cookies is golden brown.
- Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Good!
Hi Jaja! Under the baking tips section: Don’t overblend the peanuts
I believe you mean “pulse roasted peanuts”?
Hi C,
Thanks for telling me. I have fixed that part 🙂